I’m inclined to love the flipped classroom, which is convenient since it is the hot thing in education. Really, what’s not to like? Short, entertaining videos that can be watched at home, and thoughtful discussion and meaningful project work in the classroom. It sounds perfect. Classwork becomes a fun experience for kids, making them more … Read more Flippin’ Out
Thinkers
At the Meaningful Play conference last week I had the pleasure of seeing the game Don’t Kill the Cow. Don’t Kill the Cow is a serious game developed by students at the University of Miami in Ohio. It is really simple, but raises some interesting moral questions since the game goal and good moral behavior … Read more Thinkers
What is Copyright Protecting?
I’ve been in publishing a long time, and I’ve generally been a fan of copyright restrictions. Those encyclopedia or history books? A lot of hard work goes into making those facts accurate, accessible and compelling. But a couple of recent(ish) happenings are giving me cause to rethink how we are applying copyright laws. “Ambulance chasing” … Read more What is Copyright Protecting?
Intention
Apparently, it is all about the intention. Re-Mission is a video game for young people battling cancer. The teen “becomes” Roxxi the nanobot, whose mission is to destroy cancer cells and prevent the spread of cancer. Developed by HopeLab, with support from a boatload of impressive organizations, Re-Mission is designed to be a fun, engaging … Read more Intention
Stuff Worth Checking Out
Can Inspire make high school chemistry comprehensible? A cool new “intelligent” textbook uses AI to make dense topics more accessible. IA beats AI. Thoughtful TED Talk by Shyam Sankar on human-computer symbiosis. Inside the Haiti Earthquake. A simulation that lets students experience the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and make strategic decisions about how to … Read more Stuff Worth Checking Out
What’s the Point?
Linda Holliday, founder and CEO of Semi-Linear, has “New media habits with old media tastes.” I have a similar problem, which I usually refer to as “so many books, so little time.” Semi-Linear has released a new product – Citia – that deconstructs major non-fiction works and lets readers (users) peruse the major themes, digging … Read more What’s the Point?
Moby Dick in Beta?
Your favorite author’s new masterpiece in beta? Hiptype provides some really interesting analytics on e-books (sorry, not print). What chapters do users read? Where do you lose them? How many buy the book after reading the sample? Collecting both demographic info and reading habits in a small app, Hiptype supports “data-driven publishing.” Aside from the … Read more Moby Dick in Beta?
The Checkerboard Hat
Forbes’ Ken Krogue writes a good article on the changes (demise?) of SEO in The Death Of SEO: The Rise of Social, PR, And Real Content. There are many important points in the article, and I highly recommend reading all of it, but the point I want to focus on is this: The bottom line … Read more The Checkerboard Hat
Can MOOCs Make the World Smarter?
The potential of MOOCs is (potentially) amazing. Massive Open Online Courses, where hundreds of thousands of students take a single class, make many delirious with hope for the spread of knowledge, unlimited by tuition costs, geographical distance, and suspect merit selectivity. I’m interested, too. I’ve taken a couple of classes and marveled at many more. … Read more Can MOOCs Make the World Smarter?
Olympic Teaching
The 2012 Olympics start in 32 days, and recent TV programming was lousy with Olympic trials. (Including this amazing tie for third place in the women’s 100 meters.) And while the athletes (and advertisers) are preparing, teachers are also preparing to use the Olympics to engage students. Project Britain has developed some teaching resources — … Read more Olympic Teaching